The route 260 began on the 3rd January 1962 and provided a Monday to Friday and Sunday service between Barnet Church and Harlesden and Monday to Friday peaks and Saturdays ran between Barnet Church and Hammersmith via, Whetstone, Finchley, Golders Green, Childs Hill, Cricklewood, Willesden, North Acton, Acton and Askew Road. The route was operated from Finchley FY, Stonebridge SE and Cricklewood W garages. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 13RM from FY and 12RM from SE, Saturday 7RM from FY and 13RM from SE and Sunday 5RM from FY and 5RT from W. This route was the trolleybus replacement route for route 660. On the 10th October 1962 the Sunday only Cricklewood W allocation was withdrawn and replaced by Hendon Garage AE and was still operated by RT’s. On the 18th December 1962 the AE allocation was converted to Routemaster operation. A little later on the Saturday SE allocation was withdrawn and replaced by a new AC allocation.

On the 22nd August 1969 the route was revised, Monday to Friday provided a service between New Barnet Station and Harlesden, Monday to Friday Peaks, New Barnet Station to Hammersmith, Saturday New Barnet Station to Hammersmith and Sundays ran between Barnet Chesterfield Rd and Harlesden. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 12RM from FY and 11RM from SE, Saturday 8RM from AC and FY and Sunday 3RM from AE and 5RM from FY. On the 13th June 1970 the route was revised again Barnet Chesterfield Road(Sundays) - North Finchley (Monday-Friday except evenings) – Golders Green(Monday-Friday evenings/Saturdays) – Willesden Garage(Sundays) - Harlesden(Monday-Saturday) – Acton Vale (Monday-Friday peaks). The FY allocation was also withdrawn. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 11RM from SE, Saturday 4RM from AC and Sunday 8RM from AE.

On the 16th January 1971 the allocation was changed, the current PVR was Monday to Friday 11RM from SE, Saturday 4RM from AC and Sunday 7RM from FY. On the 28th October 1978 the route was revised again to run from Hammersmith to North Finchley this was under Bus Plan 2. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 9RM from AC and 8RM from SE, Saturday 10RM from AC and Sunday 6RM from AC and 4RML from SE. On the 26th October 1980 the Sunday SE allocation was converted from RML to M crew. By the 25th April 1981 the Sunday SE allocation was changed back to RM operation. On the 15th August 1981 Stonebridge Garage closed SE so all the allocation was at AC, the current PVR was Monday to Friday 17RM, Saturday 10RM and Sunday 9RM. On the 2nd February 1985 the 260’s route was revised again, North Finchley –Willesden Garage(Monday-Friday evenings/Sat early am & evenings/Sundays) - Willesden Junction(Monday-Friday except evenings/Sat shopping hours). The route was also converted to One Person Operation using Metrobuses. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 10M, Saturday 8M and Sunday 5M.

On the 21st November 1987 the route was changed again, Evenings ran between Golders Green to Shepherds Bush Green this was due to the withdrawn 255. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 14M, Saturday 13M and Sunday 7M. On the 23rd June 1990 Armchair now had the contract for the 260 and operated the route from their garage. The route was revised again and ran from North Finchley and Shepherds Bush Green. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 13ON, Saturday 12ON and Sunday 7ON. On the 27th June 1998 Armchair lost the contract to Metroline and was transferred back to AC garage. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 14M, Saturday 13M and Sunday 8M. By the 12th October 2002 the allocation was transferred to Harlesden HR, the current PVR was Monday to Friday 15AV, Saturday 14AV and Sunday 11AV. On the 28th June 2003 the contract was renewed with Metroline, and the allocation was transferred back to AC and the Sunday allocation was decreased to 10AV/M as Metrobuses were reintroduced. The route was revised to go from Golders Green Station to Shepherds Bush Green and the withdrawn section was replaced by the 460. The current PVR was Monday to Friday 15VP, Saturday 14VP and Sunday 10VP. The average journey time is between 46 and 78 minutes. The frequency Monday to Saturday is every 12 minutes, Sunday and evenings every 15 minutes.